


Every Christmas Counts - A Christmas Special!

by dorkpatroller



Series: Life After Time Stops (Dorks With Timers) [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: A lot of kissing, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Hella kissing, In the snow, Kissing, M/M, So much kissing, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Through the Years, a little choke kink, a little dirty talk, against counters, at parties, in one of these, it's a very small porn, that's all i'm done, there is also some porn, this is really hard to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 22:15:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9036491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkpatroller/pseuds/dorkpatroller
Summary: A direct sequel to Every Second Counts (please don't read this unless you've read that it will not make sense).---Christmastime with Odin and Niles over the course of a few years.





	1. Baby, It's Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lieano](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lieano/gifts).



> A gift for literally my very best friend. This is literally short chapters of their lives over time and it's REALLY not edited very well so I'm sorry in advance. This takes place chronologically, with the first taking place before they're married (pre epilogue of ESC) and the last taking place wayyy later.

**Baby, It’s Cold Outside**

_ There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Think of my lifelong sorrow _

_ At least there will be plenty implied - If you caught pneumonia and died _

_ I really can't stay - Get over that hold out _

_ Ah, but it's cold outside _

“Nooooo,” Owain whines, and he laughs at the tail end of it. Niles loves him like this. Just at the line of tipsy and drunk, just at the edge of too far. His cheeks are flushed red and his laughter is too loud and his eyes are reflecting the Christmas light strung around the huge house. The Christmas parties that Leo’s family hosts are always a blast. They start out strong with Christmas spirit and end with an entirely different sort of spirits, and often the eggnog is spiked with a tad too much rum.

 

Niles slides his hands up Owain’s shirt, his hands too cold on his boyfriend’s hot skin. Ah, but not boyfriend. His  _ fiancé  _ now. They are very recently engaged. Owain is practically his husband, his to marry and touch and hold forever. This is perhaps why he’s  _ kind of  _ annoyed that every time he pushes his fingers under Owain’s clothes he swats at his hand and makes a face that almost looks like a pout. Almost.

 

“I’ve got to go home!” He says, his voice loud and booming as ever but the situation is calm and quiet and he has no business maintaining that volume. He catches himself, rolls in his lips and lets out a tiny snicker. “Sorry. I’ve got to go home. Ma will be worried.”

 

“She doesn’t want to see you nearly as badly as I do.” Niles says, and he tries again and this time Owain lets out an overly dramatic sigh. He allows it like he’s just giving up. He slips his hands up and he drapes his arms over Niles’s shoulders. Niles grins something evil. This is a victory, right? Gotta be, because the dork is caving. Niles slides his palm until it flattens to Owain’s back. Owain squirms, arches his back to get away from the cold, and he finds himself pressed flushed to Niles.

 

Which is exactly what the plan was, because even with alcohol in him Niles is a damn genius and he’s not afraid to admit it. He puts his lips down onto Owain’s neck, kisses but his stupid yellow turtleneck comes up too far, blocks his access. It’s thick and warm, it’s why Owain’s skin is nice and toasty, and it is cable knit down the front but Niles will never forgive it for keeping him from kissing where he chooses.

 

“She’ll lecture me for days.” Owain says, shifts to wrap his arms around Niles’s shoulders. Once there he kisses over the apple of his cheek, and he goes for his lips but he misses and ends up kissing his chin. Niles is happy to correct him. “She doesn’t want…”

 

“It’s too cold to send you home.” Niles argues, coos even. He burrows his nose down into the crook of Owain’s neck and takes a deep breath of the cologne he’s wearing. It’s not the normal scent of aftershave, it’s something special for the party. It’s nice. “The bus will be freezing. You should spend the night with me.”

 

“ _ You’re  _ freezing.” Owain mutters. He tips his head and Niles can feel him rest it against his. Niles wraps his arms tight around his middle.

 

“Keep me warm.”

 

Owain softens around him, grins and presses a kiss to the side of Niles’s head, and he sighs. “She’s going to assume the worst.”

 

“It would be horrible for me to ravish my fiancé, wouldn’t it?” Niles grins. Owain’s mother (one of them anyway) does not want to believe that her precious son is “canoodling” before he’s properly married. A value that died years and years ago, and yet one she seems to hold dear. Owain probably just doesn’t want to argue with her about it. Niles can’t blame him really; he wouldn’t want to either. “If she’ll assume it anyway…”

 

“I should go home,” he says, “I want to stay, I do, but…”

 

“Four hours.” Niles reminds Owain. He holds him back at enough of a distance to properly look at him and then he huffs. “You’ll freeze.”

 

Owain shivers. Just at the thought? More likely because the air between them grows cold where they were once touching. Niles smiles. Owain huffs. “I’ve got to go.”

 

“Alright.” Niles says. He reaches down to hold Owain’s hands, pulls his dork forward by them and plants a peck on his lips. Hesitantly he pulls him closer to the door, towards a coat rack that has been overwhelmed with jackets, but from it he easily plucks his own.

 

They’re not exactly the same size but it’s close enough that Owain can borrow his coat. “It’s too cold for just a sweater.” He says. He pushes the coat into Owains arms and he flaps his mouth before protest finally comes out.

 

“Won’t you need it soon?”

 

“Mm,” He hums. Owain slips the jacket on one sleeve at a time and it doesn’t suit him. It’s deep blue. Owain looks best in bright colors. Niles drapes a thick scarf around Owain’s neck, too. Owain looks down at it, plucks at the fabric with his fingers… and his smile is bright.

 

It’s so cute. Even if Owain is trying to leave him, trying to get back to Ylisse before the busses shut down for the night at least he knows that he loves him, that his soulmate will come back to his arms soon enough. Eventually they’ll be married, they’ll have their own place together and Niles won’t have to let him go at the end of the day. Maybe they’ll have a cozy apartment? Something small and warm where they can be together.

 

Niles pulls open the front door and he shivers right away. The snow is coming down hard now, the wind is blowing and the breeze is full of snowflakes. They both step outside, Owain bundled up and Niles with just a thin sweatshirt… but he wraps his arms around himself and steps out onto the porch with his fiancé anyway. He plans to see him off right.

 

Owain bounces on his heels. “Brr! I’m glad you leant me the coat! Er—but you’ll freeze if you stay out here, too.”

 

“The sooner you kiss me the sooner I’ll go inside.” Niles hums, “Or are you planning to leave without so much as a goodbye?”

 

Of course he isn’t. Owain reaches out for Niles and pulls him forward to kiss him by a fistful of his hair and  _ damn _ it feels nice. It’s always nice. Owain is always electric, his soulmate, he sets Niles on fire with every touch and every kiss and this is no different. This is fire coursing through him and heating him and this… well this isn’t over as quickly and Niles expects it to be. When Owain finally does pull away from him Niles licks his lips. He can see the puffs of air forming between them. “Text me.” Niles breathes, and he dips his nose down to nuzzle his fiancé. Owain shakes his head side to side. A no.

 

“I won’t.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Leave. I won’t leave.” Owain says it with authority and he folds their lips together again.

 

“Oh? Won’t there be talk tomorrow?”

 

Owain nods his head yes but he doesn’t back down. His kisses are becoming more and more urgent and Niles won’t fight him on this decision, not really. “I’m too drunk to go home.”

 

“You’re not that drunk, dork.”

 

“I might be.” Owain argues. “So drunk I need to lie down. With you, of course. You did promise to keep me warm, I would be  _ heartbroken _ if you didn’t keep your word.” He steps forward and Niles lets him pin him to the door. Once upon a time it was harder to accept it when Owain pinned him down by his hips or his wrist. It was harder to accept when Owain was in control.

 

Now it is comfortable. He doesn’t mind, he doesn’t at all… because Owain is the most trustworthy idiot Niles has ever met and he wouldn’t hurt a fly if it picked a fight with him. Owain’s kisses are heated and his body is warm but… after only a few of his addicting kisses Niles pushes against his chest sort of gently. “Owain,” he says, “Let’s go inside.”

 

Niles is delighted when he does.


	2. Winter Wonderland

**Winter Wonderland**

_ Later on, we’ll conspire _

_ As we dream by the fire _

_ To face unafraid, the plans that we’ve made _

_ Walking in a winter wonderland. _

Every winter Owain’s family went up into the mountains to take a ski trip. His parents, his brother, his uncle and his cousins. In previous years Niles stayed behind, and the timer on his arm would tick down the hours until he would be reunited with his boyfriend. This year is the first year that he is invited to join them. This year they are engaged to be married, and Owain’s mother makes it clear that means Niles is part of the family.

Reasonably Niles expects this trip to be fun. Even romantic, if he can trap Owain alone for a while… although the cabin his family stays in has cramped quarters. Owain, Brady, and Niles do not even have a room to speak of. Brady and Owain sleep on a sofa that folds out into a bed, and Niles sleeps on the other couch. The only benefit to being forced to sleep in this family room is that the fireplace roars all night long, and chases away the cold.

(Niles would much rather be the one sharing a bed with Owain.)

Niles gets along well with most of Owain’s family. Although she is obviously a bit judgmental and slow to warm up to people, Maribelle is nice enough. She bakes remarkable cookies and she has amusing stories. Lissa is a little overwhelming. She wants to talk nonstop about their wedding, but… well they haven’t  _ really _ planned much of anything yet. Specifically because they’re considering eloping... and if they say that out loud Lissa might actually have a heart attack. Brady is easy to get along with and even fun to rile up. He’s almost as fun to mess with as Owain is, but twice as sensitive.

Chrom and Lucina are both interesting enough. Niles likes them okay, at the beginning of the trip. Then they convince Owain to go out with them on some sort of adventure and Niles isn’t asked to go so he doesn’t. Not bitterly. He doesn’t  _ actually _ care one way or another if he is asked to go with them. He is happy to catch up on some work on his laptop and sip coffee safe and sound by the fireplace.

Chrom and Lucina are okay people, until Niles’s heart falls into his stomach and he starts to get nervous. He taps his fingertip anxiously on the ‘h’ key on his laptop but he never actually types anything, just… stares at the half written report.

Something is wrong with Owain. He decides it and stands up to go find him just as Lucina and Chrom come into the house. They are okay people until that moment, when they come back without Owain and with the news that there was some kind of avalanche.

Niles sort of thought an avalanche was something huge, something that would disrupt the whole mountain. Turns out that there are smaller ones, little avalanches that trigger left and right over the most unexpected events, animals, or even nothing at all. And at first Niles thinks it’s a joke. Owain got lost in an avalanche, ha ha, very funny, so where’s my dork. Then he realizes they’re not joking, that Chrom is on the phone with some emergency nonsense.

“You just left him there?”

It tastes like sour milk when Niles says it and Lucina looks stunned but she shakes her head and says “we searched for him! We didn’t see if he escaped or not, we thought it best to come make sure he wasn’t home, and to call for help.”

Niles doesn’t stick around after that. Owain could be dead. Don’t they get that? But he’s not. He’s not dead. Not yet, he can’t be, because Niles feels twisted and gross inside which means he’s  _ hurting _ . He pulls his sleeve up to look at his arm before he crams it into a coat.

00:00:22:34

His timer says he should see Owain in twenty minutes. It’s still ticking, so he’s alive. They freeze entirely when—well Niles really has no interest in purchasing one of those stupid black bands for his wrist. He has twenty minutes before he’s going to find Owain again, but will he find him before he gets too cold? Before he suffocates? Just because he finds him doesn’t mean he won’t find him on the edge of death.

It’s a waste of time to call an emergency number. It will take them too long to find Owain and Niles… he can do it on his own. Besides, he’s an EMT, he just got certified for that this past year. He’s scared to death that Owain is going to freeze to death, but he’s not stupid. He grabbed a bag and shoved a blanket and a few other bits of supplies inside before he left, with a mini first aid kit.

He says a little prayer that Owain didn’t get buried in snow because he’ll suffocate. Even if he was aware enough to dig out a pocket to breathe, under all that snow he would run out of air before that twenty minutes was up. Owain is fast, though. He’s almost as fast as Inigo, he takes long strides and he might have been able to get out of its path…

Owain has no idea how his phone works. He just sort of uses it like a normal person to text occasionally or talk occasionally. Maybe for the calendar. Niles is a junkie who spends half his life staring at a phone screen because when he’s not using it for work he’s using it to scroll through blogs and vines and videos of cats who try to jump but mess up and fall down.

Niles turns off GPS services on his phone because he doesn’t really think the internet needs to know where he lives, but  _ Owain _ probably doesn’t even know that he has GPS on, and so Niles only has find an app that will track down his phone number and…

He’s not far. And he’s  _ moving _ . Niles’s heart actually flutters in relief because his dork is up and walking and that means he’s not dead, not dying, doesn’t it? Niles thinks maybe he can outrun his timer. Maybe he can follow that dot blinking on his phone fast enough that he’ll beat it.

00:00:03:58

The timer clearly thinks that it’s right because Niles doesn’t see Owain before it hits zero. He doesn’t see Owain at all, actually, and then he notices that the blinking dot isn’t moving anymore.

That is the scariest thing that has happened to Niles in years… but he continues running until he can tuck his phone into his pocket, until he sees the snow-dusted outline of a man sitting on his knees in the snow, in a heap.

00:00:00:00

When freezing to death is involved, every second counts. Niles found Owain crumpled in the snow because his legs were numb and he  _ was  _ injured, was bleeding lazily from his thigh. It turned out that he was buried, that he was covered up by the snow but he’d managed to outrun it for the most part and he was only buried a few inches. He was able to dig himself out but his injury came from being swept over and past some jagged rocks.

Niles carried him back on his back, with Owain’s chin hooked over his shoulder and his hands wrapped loose around hot handwarmers that Niles forced him to hold. The blanket was draped over his head and shoulders and even though it does little to keep away the cold it does keep fresh snow off of him.

Both Brady and Niles fuss over him. Chrom reports back that he is safe and found, and by the time he is asked if an ambulance is needed they sort of wave him off. They peel off all of his clothes and redress him in a dry sweater and fleecy pants and they cover him up with an electric blanket.

He wasn’t really talking when Niles found him and he isn’t talking then either. He’s awake, though, aware enough to nod his head and to lift his arms when they pulled off his shirt.

The cut on his side isn’t a big deal. The blood was scarier than the wound and it doesn’t even warrant stitches, Brady says, and he wraps it up. Brady is a doctor. Niles knows a thing or two about medicine, but he  _ isn’t _ a doctor. He’s forced to bite his tongue and listen once or twice.

Eventually Brady says that Owain’s temperature is getting closer to normal, and he decides to go make him some warm broth to drink. Niles doesn’t want to leave him, not now that he’s found him. It really sucks, being that worried over him. Like a lot.

But Owain is alright. He’s drowsy and he dozes and Niles pushes his way under the blankets to join him. He still feels cold when Niles pulls him closer. Owain snorts awake from his sleep and turns into his arms. “Nnns,” he murmurs, and Niles can only assume that was supposed to be his name.

He wraps his arms around Owain’s head and pulls him close, until Owain’s chilled nose is tucked against Niles’s neck. “Hey, dork.” He mutters, back. “You scared me.”

“Ssry.” Owain licks his lips. “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, idiot.” Niles says. He hooks his chin over Owain’s head and draws his fingers over his back. “How do you feel?”

“Heavy.” His answer comes quickly, as he starts to wake up. “Cold.” Niles pulls Owain closer. Owain squeaks. “Too tight.”

“Don’t care,” Niles says, “You really scared me.”

For all it’s worth, Owain’s laugh even sounds sweet and raw when it’s weak and tired. “Hey, Niles?”

“Mm?”

“Let’s get married somewhere warm.”

“Oh?” Niles asks, raises his voice suggestively. “A beach? Will you marry me in a speedo?”

“Maybe.” Owain settles against Niles and maybe he’s going to bed? Niles is sure he’s exhausted, even if he’s dozed all day. That he’s awake at all, and talking, is reassurance enough that he is fine. But then after a few moments of silence, he turns and buries his nose into Niles’s shoulder. “hmm… how ‘bout next weekend?”

Niles snorts. “Excuse me?”

“Just us. Two heroes off on an adventure—a journey to be bonded as one. Maybe at a beach.”

“Next weekend might be a bit of a time crunch.” Niles says, and he tilts Owain’s chin until their eyes meet. Owain’s look remarkably awake, just as gorgeous and bright as they always are. “What with Sunday being  _ Christmas _ . What would your mothers think if their precious baby son wasn’t there on Christmas day?”

“We could fly there Friday and fly back Saturday—we can be home by then. I want to, I… I could have  _ died _ today, Niles, and I would have died before I had the chance to marry you. I want to, as soon as we can.”

“Owain,” Niles frowns at him. He looks so nervous, like he is afraid to be told no. Owain isn’t wrong—he was pretty close to death… but they found him just in time. He would be better in a day or two, no doubt, so long as he is kept warm and safe from pneumonia.

Niles can’t really remember a time when Owain looked this nervous, save when he was pinned to the floor and forced to remove the band covering his timer. He is very serious. Niles reaches for his hand, where he wears his engagement ring, and he kisses him over the silvery band. “You want to get married on Christmas Eve?”

“I want to get married on Christmas Eve.” Owain nods. “Yes.”

“Alright.” Niles rolls his eyes, but he leans in close to kiss Owain’s  forehead. “Eight days.”

“Eight days,” Owain hums, “Best Christmas ever.”

God  _ damn _ , Niles thinks,  _ Owain is such a dork.  _ The very best dork, though. One that Niles is sort of irrationally excited to marry in a week.


	3. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

_ Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer _

_ All of the other reindeer _

_ Used to laugh and call him names _

_ They never let poor Rudolph _

_ Join in any reindeer games _

“Scoot over.”

Niles is sitting in the center of the couch when Owain says it. Specifically taking up enough space that his husband cannot join him. Owain is an idiot wrapped up in a blanket. Literally. The quilt from their bed is curled around his head and shoulders and he looks like the goddamn plague has struck and cut him down. “No.”

“What? Why?” His voice is so gross. Niles actually winces. It’s sort of raw and very congested and sounds very specifically like snot. His nose is chapped and red and his eyes have bags under them and… well he’s a mess, really.

“Go back to bed and sleep, dork.” Niles has work tomorrow morning. He’s been dodging Owain all day. He has a fever and body aches and it’s obvious he has the flu. If he’s lucky he can sleep it off in a couple of days. “I’ll bring you some tea.”

Owain has never looked more offended than he does then, and Niles almost smiles if he didn’t look so pathetic. “What? I want to sit with you!”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I got that.” Niles says. He sighs and closes the laptop in his lap, pushes it to the side but he doesn’t move, he doesn’t make room for Owain to sit because… He just really doesn’t want him to. He can’t afford to get sick. Tomorrow he has meetings, he has to finish up a recommendation, he has…

Owain looks like a kicked puppy. A kicked puppy wrapped up in a quilt with a horrible case of the flu and Niles groans. He isn’t entirely evil. He’s not! Owain is sick and he just needs to rest. He needs to be in bed, not up at night watching over Niles while he works. He just has this stupid idea in his head that he doesn’t like to sleep without him. He likes to stay up late when Niles does, he likes to keep him company.

He’s going to make himself more sick if he does that.

Niles almost has the opportunity to say as much, almost has the chance to say that Owain is being ridiculous, but then Owain breathes out words that make him reconsider. “I don’t feel good.”

He doesn’t feel good. He wants comfort. Isn’t that sort of what soulmates are supposed to be? And every time Niles has ever been uncomfortable Owain has always been there with his bright smile and warm hugs, and it makes Niles… hesitate. Gross. He’s going to catch this stupid flu and be miserable at work tomorrow.

He shifts over and Owain does light up as much as someone who is clearly disease ridden can. He settles beside Niles and keeps his distance for a few moments… but then Niles picks his computer up again to work on his presentation and Owain leans his head against his shoulder.

“You look pretty pathetic. Your nose is awful. Like Rudolph or something.” Owain rubs at his nose on cue, and Niles snorts. “Don’t make it worse!” He says, and even though Owain already has a quilt around his shoulders he reaches out to grab for the throw blanket hanging off the arm of the sofa. He drops it in Owain’s lap. “Still feeling that bad?”

“Mm. Head hurts.”

Niles lays his cheek on Owain’s head and nods his head. He feels hot. Hotter than before, actually, and Niles hesitates… but then lifts up his hand to lay his palm flat over Owain’s forehead. He’s burning up, and Niles finds it in him to worry, just slightly. “Have you taken anything for that?”

“Just now.”

“Good.”

Owain is soft against his arm. A weight but it is comforting and Niles actually sort of likes it more than he wants to admit. His husband is still new. They’ve only been married a month (they haven’t even told his parents yet) but he does all these stupid things. He stays up with him at night, he kisses his shoulder when he wakes up in the morning… and even when he’s sick, apparently, he has plenty of love to spare.

Ah, but can’t have him getting any worse, can we? “Get up.” Niles says, shoves his arm against Owain. The response is slow, lazy, but Owain sits upright with a quiet noise. “Up! We’re going to bed.”

“You’re not done—“

“I am.” A lie. “I’m done with my work.”

“No you’re…” Owain hesitates. Probably because Niles pushes himself closer to him, pins him back against the arm of the sofa and layers their lips together. Owain’s lips are chapped. Probably from breathing through his mouth. Ultimately, kissing him probably seals Niles’s fate.

It’s not a deep kiss and Owain pushes him away after the shock settles in and Niles stands from the sofa and pulls Owain with him by the wrists. “Bedtime. You’re sick.” The quilt falls off of Owain but Niles makes a grab for it. He slides his hand around Owain’s waist and half guides-half forces him down the hall to their room. Owain is only tense for the first few steps… and then he relaxes into Niles, slumps until Niles is almost holding him up.

“I love you.”

Yes, Niles thinks it has always been obvious that Owain loves him. He hopes… that it is obvious, sometimes, that he loves him too. He pulls Owain closer, squeezes his hand over his hip bone and he tilts his head to kiss his hair. “I love you too, Rudy.”

“Ughhh.” 


	4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the porn, fair warning.

_ Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas _

_ Have yourself a merry little Christmas _

_ Let your heart be light _

_ From now on, our troubles will be out of sight _

Owain isn’t a fan of the snow, Niles knows. He prefers to be inside where it is toasty and to sip hot cocoa with a blanket in his lap. He makes a habit of reading poetry rather than watching old movies, and the words are often meaningless and lost on Niles… but Niles still lays his head in Owain’s lap and listens to him read aloud. His voice is rich and calm when he reads, not as jumpy as it often gets when he’s excited. It is like a lullaby made just for a winter Sunday and napping like this is always easy and warm.

When Niles wakes up from his nap it is still easy and warm. Not much has changed. The room is dimmer, the fire is a low, orange smolder in the hearth, and Owain’s head is tilted against the cushion of the couch. He fell asleep, too. The book of poetry is open and flat against his waist.

He’s all propped up the way he was before, his head is dipped and it looks sort of uncomfortable but who is his dork if not the sort of man to sit in discomfort so that someone else can nap peacefully? It’s gross. Owain is gross. Always has been. Sweet and sunshine and warm and… sort of perfect.

Niles shifts until he can crawl over him, uses one of his hands to pull the book from Owain’s lap and to close it. He drops it to the floor and the gentle thud against the rug causes Owain to stir. He blinks slow, tired, and Niles? He grins at him something caught between adoration and evil before he leans in and kisses him.

Owain kisses him back and it is drowsy. His arms slip up around Niles’s shoulders but he hesitates to shake one out. Numb, probably, from the stupid way he slept on it. He still manages to pull Niles close and Niles nuzzles his chilled nose against Owain’s neck. He kisses gentle and small and almost innocent. Owain hums. Niles grows less innocent.

He leaves a bruise on Owain’s neck, something small and quick for his troubles, and he moves up to kiss his husband. His  _ husband _ ! Sometimes Niles thinks about that, thinks about how Owain is all his and always will be. He thinks about how Owain has never loved anyone else, has never slept with anyone else. Everything they have is special to them. No one else in the world has seen this part of him that makes quiet hums when his neck is kissed.

No one else ever will.

The kisses they share are drowsy and slow, coming out of a nap, but with the weight of Niles’s hips laying between his legs Owain’s grow hotter. At first he sighs gentle into Niles’s mouth but then his breath comes shorter, his skin grows hotter, his cock thickens under Niles’s hips and Niles hums judgmentally against his mouth. “Well hello,” He says into Owain’s mouth, and Owain’s retaliation is to bite his lower lip. It hurts probably more than he meant for it to. Niles really likes it.

Their kisses grow hotter and Niles’s hands wander until they are pressed under Owain’s shirt. The skin of his sides is glowing with warmth and Owain squirms pathetically away from the touch. Cold hands. A crime, really, but Niles cannot be blamed when the heat is turned down low and the hearth is dying.

Niles spreads his hands along Owain’s middle, over his collarbone and his pretty neck and he pushes up his shirt the whole way until Owain lifts his arms and Niles can peel it right off of him. And he shivers and it’s  _ so cute _ and honestly how dare he? Why is he so cute all the time, can’t he give Niles a break now and then?

“Stay here.” Niles says it once Owain’s shirt is off, once he’s beginning to roll his hips up against Niles to get some friction. Niles takes those two things as a cue to disappear. Not for long! Owain looks put out by the words but Niles… he has every intention to take proper care of him.

He’s only gone long enough to get to their room. Quickly, not necessarily because Owain is waiting but because the floor is hardwood and is like ice in the hallway and he’s just not big on wearing socks around the house the way Owain is, so he’s cold.

When he comes back it is with a nearly empty (they need to replace that before they forget) bottle of glossy lube and to the sight of Owain having spread out the furry throw blanket onto the floor in front of the fireplace, and he must have looked as curious as he is because Owain blushes and says “Warmer. And, uh—more space.”

Niles joins him in standing on that blanket just so he can pull Owain close by his neck and smoosh his lips against his cheek. He’s adorable. “Already planning to spread your legs wide for me, luv?” He asks. He obviously asks the right question too, because Owain’s breath hitches against his skin and he squirms just slightly. “And how am I supposed to open you up for me if you’re standing here in all these layers of clothes?” He loops his finger into Owain’s jeans. Jeans, underwear, honestly too much. He thumbs at the button but that doesn’t make the clothes fall away on their own.

No, not at all. Niles has to push them away, crouching in front of Owain while he pushes the dark blue jeans down to his ankles. If Owain swayed, then Niles didn’t notice. He maybe noticed Owain sway a few seconds later, though… when Niles trails his fingertips along the outline of Owain’s cock—straining hard against the confines of the boxer briefs. Owain used to wear boxers. Those aren’t as good—you can’t see the goods. Niles isn’t ashamed to admit he forced his husband to trade in loose boxers for fitted. Boxers that cling to his thighs, both strong but also soft where Niles squeezes them.

Owain sways, and it is entirely because Niles mouths at his cock through the thin cotton barrier, pushes his hot breath against the fabric, and doesn’t stop until Owain  _ whimpers _ . He only stops then because it’s adorable.

Will he ever stop being so head over heels for his husband? When is this ‘honeymoon phase’ supposed to end? It’s hard to focus on anything else when his whole head is filled with thoughts of his dork.

His grip on Owain’s thighs is bruising and his tongue pressing a damp spot against his underwear is cruel and Niles honestly knows he’s making Owain’s legs shake with the tension but he never says stop and Niles never does, not until he is thoroughly proud of the way Owain pulses for more contact and  _ then _ he gives in.  _ Then _ he kisses his dick and pulls away so he can tug the underwear down and away and it pools at his ankles with his jeans until Owain finally is free to  _ move _ .

He steps out of those clothes, kicks them off to the side away from their blanket like they might be in the way, and then he crouches in front of Niles and grips him hard by his hair. That would have never been okay only a few years before, but now it only brings a grin to his lips—the little bit of pain that comes with having his hair pulled goes straight to his cock anyway. Owain kneels on the blanket, leans forward until their mouths meet, and Niles hears him say “You’re the worst,” before his tongue is otherwise occupied.

_ Thank you, I try.  _ Ah, he loves this man. Their kissing is short lived. Niles gropes around the blanket until he finds that bottle and with the click of the lid Owain pulls away from Niles, the way their lips stick together briefly the only evidence he was kissing him at all. His attention follows the sound, the snap of KY that makes him curious. Niles gets comfortable, sits with his legs folded on the floor… and he tugs Owain forward by his wrist. “Come here, luv.” He says, and when Owain straddles his lap he is rewarded with oiled fingers rubbing gentle circles over his entrance.

And then, of course, he dips his fingers in.

Owain lurches forward, probably a little surprised. It’s understandable. Niles didn’t exactly ask to just jump right into fingering him, didn’t say he would press in two digits when everything else thus far has been slow and lazy. He drops his forehead onto Niles’s shoulder and clings to the back of his shirt…

There is comfortable, cozy silence for a short time while Niles works him pliant. Then, just as he is experimentally trying to slip in another (and he’s always amazed, always delighted because Owain is never tense, he takes him so well) Owain breaks that silence to complain. “You’re wearing too many clothes.” When he says it he plucks at the sweater Niles has on, and yeah… he’s not wrong. Niles hasn’t stripped at all.

“Mm, but how will you remedy that?” He has learned a few things about Owain since the first few times he was allowed to take him like this. The first thing is that he hates being teased—hates it because when Owain is hot and horny he just wants relief. He has no interest in letting Niles ‘draw it out’.

Which is exactly why Niles twists his wrist and brushes the pads of his fingers along his walls to tease him  _ anyway _ . A little suffering never hurt anyone. Owain jolts in his lap. “ _ Ah,”  _ His moan is so sweet.  Niles does not relent.

“That’s a good boy.” Niles purrs. A precious boy, a precious man moaning in his lap and pressing back onto his fingers for more, even when he tries to arch away from the shock of the touch. “You’re so ready, so open. Let me hear you say my name, won’t you, pet?”

Oh, he doesn’t even hesitate. He’s not ashamed of himself. He’s not a blushing kid in college on a bottom bunk he’s a man who knows exactly what he wants, and he turns his head to leave a breathy kiss on Niles’s ear. “Niles— _ please _ ,” he begs so sweetly, oh it’s exactly what Niles wants to hear. “I’m ready.”

“So ready?” Niles asks. He slides his fingers out, leaves a trail of lube along Owain’s leg as he does, and then pushes him out of his lap. “But what about me? I’m still fully dressed; I just can’t be—“ but he doesn’t even get to finish teasing Owain before his fingers hook under his shirt and pull it up over his head almost violently.

Gods above he’s good. Heat pools and makes Niles’s cock throb and he starts to peel off his own jeans (and no one is as good at getting out of clothes as Niles is). He pushes Owain’s hip and he hardly hesitates before he understands, before he shifts onto his knees and folds his arms in front of himself, supports his weight on his forearms.

_ Experience _ . Owain does that because he knows he can hold himself up longer that way, than on his wrists. It’s beautiful. Niles spreads the last of the lube onto his cock and he sinks into Owain and he watches—makes a low noise in his throat while he watches himself vanish. It’s one of his favorite things to look at.

Owain always moans with the stretch, but it’s never discomfort. He always acts like it’s the best thing—sometimes Niles thinks the reason he always whines about Niles taking too long is because he likes it best. Likes being stretched wide and filled up to a point of discomfort. He knows he likes it, he must, because when Niles reaches around to stroke him there is (and there always is) precum gathered at the tip of his cock.

With the first snap of his hips Owain drops his forehead against his arms. It takes a few more before he starts meeting the thrusts halfway. Niles spreads his hand up his back, over a scar he got a few years before in the mountains, over his tensed shoulder blade…

Owain is warm and wet and soft inside and honestly Niles doesn’t think it’s fair that he might be expected to pace himself. He tries anyway. Grinds against him slow when he starts to get too excited. Slides his hand under Owain, around his chest and spreads it over his neck one more time… and this time Owain whines and Niles wraps his fingers around it. He can feel his pulse under his fingers, feel the bob of Owain’s Adam’s apple when he swallows.

Owain’s body is perfect and Niles molds himself to his back. “Niles,” Owain breathes out, but when he makes to breathe in Niles tightens his hand on his neck just slightly. Not enough to make it impossible—he loves his dork too much to truly hurt him—but only enough so that Owain has to work harder to fill his lungs.

He whines low in his throat but Niles isn’t fooled. He loves this. “Such a dirty thing, swooning over this. Don’t you know I could take away your breath with just one squeeze?” And he does squeeze, but only for a second and Owain clenches around him. He moans, oh it’s luxurious and sends a wave of heat through Niles.

Niles is honestly caught off guard but he ruts into him hard, shallow for a few thrusts while he makes quite certain that the weight of his cock brushes over his prostate… but then deep. Deep so he can feel it when Owain cums, so he can keep his firm grip on his neck and wrap an arm tight around his middle in time with the cry that struggles to rip from his throat. And it’s good, so good, because he’s tight and pulsing and twitchy around him and Niles has to let his grip go and slide away from his neck because he’s panting and raspy… and because he has to hold onto Owain’s hips. He has to because he needs to be grounded with his final thrusts until the buildup is too much and he spills.

And then he smiles, while he catches his breath. Traces blotches of red skin over Owain’s shoulders and upper back and listens to him breathe, listens to him suck in air like he really thought Niles might take it away forever.

He rolls to the side, drags Owain with him until Owain’s back is tucked against his chest and Niles can spoon him properly. “You’re a pervert.” He says with his lips against Owain’s shoulder. Owain’s laugh is gorgeous, like Christmas bells.


	5. Frosty The Snowman

_ Frosty The Snowman _

_ There must of been some magic in _

_ That ol' silk cap they found _

_ For when they placed it on his head _

_ He began to dance around _

“He’s got to be heroic!”

Owain was a child, really. Then again, so was Niles, because here he is humoring him. Sort of. The snow came down hard the night before. The roads are too bad for transportation, and so the city is closed. Niles does not have to work. Owain doesn’t have anywhere to be.

So they’re building a snowman. Or they were. They have three large balls formed (and Niles has made plenty of jokes on the subject, already) but now Owain is having second thoughts on what order they should be in. “I think the largest should be in the middle!” He says.

“To give your snowman breasts?” Niles asks. He lifts up the larger of the snow boulders anyway, with Owain’s help, and they set it into place. He looks stupid. The snowman, that is. He looks upside down. What kind of snowman has a fatter middle than it does  bottom?

“A broad chest! Like a warrior!” Owain argues. He laughs. Maybe because Niles is looking at him like he’s a true moron. Owain bends over and lifts up the head of the snowman and plops it on top before Niles has even secured the other pieces. It almost falls apart—but Owain grabs for the middle to steady it and Niles snorts at the stunned look on his face.

He’s an idiot. “It’s a snowman, dork, not a warrior.”

“Look how strong he is? A hero such as he needs a powerful name. Perhaps Dorcas?” Owain begins molding the head and body together and once they are, he turns to smile at Niles. “Almost sounds like ‘dork’. Should be up your alley, right?”

Should be. For a moment Niles hesitates in speaking, though. The morning sun is washing down over them bright, but not warm. Owain’s smile is what makes Niles feel warm, when it’s this cold out. The snow is coming down in wet, fluffy flakes and it is caught in his hair just perfectly. His scarf, his shoulders, they’re all steadily turning white with the snow. Not his nose, however. It’s bright and pink the way it always is when cold out.

“Come here.” He says it and Owain blinks slow at him. He lets go of the snowman and walks into Niles’s arms easily. He obviously wants to know why Niles made that demand. It’s clear on his face he has no idea why they’re suddenly hugging.

“Niles,” he whispers. Niles shifts to tuck his nose into Owain’s neck, and Owain squeezes him tight around his shoulders. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope.” Niles mutters. He’s just overwhelmed. His dork is perfect. Pure and beautiful in the snow like he’s in some sort of movie, and Niles honestly just wants to hold him and kiss him. So he does. He slips his hands up to hold Owain’s face and he kisses him, and he tastes like this morning’s coffee and like the snowflakes falling down around them. But they kiss, just like that, in front of the ugliest snowman ever built and Owain’s lips curl up into a smile against his mouth.

Oh gods, it’s still Niles’s favorite feeling in the entire damn world.

“Ew.”

Owain pulls his lips away from Niles and the both of them glance towards the door to the apartment building. Nina isn’t dressed properly enough to be outside. She only has on her pajamas, tucked into snow boots and a coat that isn’t even zipped up.

“Nina?” Owain asks, and he jogs closer to her to put his hat onto her head. A moment later Niles catches up. He crouches in front of the four year old and wraps his scarf around her neck. She’s only been with them for a few months. This is probably the first time she’s seen two grown men acting like idiots in the snow.

“You didn’t tell me you were going to go play in the snow.” She says. She looks like she’s pouting. Niles takes off his mittens and pushes them up over her hands. She pouts at them, but accepts. Her cheeks are already turning pink. Cute—it’s very similar to Owain.

“You were asleep!” Owain grins. “But now that our songbird is awake: Come play! We’re building a snowman!”

“Looked like you were kissing.”

“Er—well, perhaps. But we’re making a snowman!” Owain is adorable. His grin doesn’t even falter, even when his cheeks burn pink with her accusation. “His name is Dorcas.”

“He doesn’t have any arms.” Nina says. “Or a face. You guys suck at making snowmen.”

“He never said we were done, Nina.” Niles snickers. “But you’re right, he does suck at making snowmen.”

It was actually the best snowman. He was strong, top heavy, a warrior. Nina said he was a romantic. She made up a wife for him, and the two of them wove a story while they worked. It was crazy. It was like that time a few months ago, at McDonalds, watching them laugh and eat fries and talk about Owain’s stupid books. Holy hell.

This is his first Christmas with a whole, real family. A husband, a child, and the ugliest snowman in Nohr.


	6. Feed The World

_ Feed The World _

_ There's a world outside your window _

_ And it's a world of dread and fear _

_ Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears _

_ And the Christmas bells that ring there _

_ Are the clanging chimes of doom _

_ Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you _

Nina is five. It is her second Christmas with Niles and Owain, and the first where she really feels at home with them. Today is Christmas Eve, it’s drawing close to eight in the evening and it is time for them to head home and get her to bed, really. It’s hard to pull her away from this place, though.

Everyone loves her—she’s been a perfect angel today. She has been following Owain around helping him clear tables. Owain waited tables in high school and part of college. He is almost a professional at clearing away the mess. Nina helps him wipe them down, helps him set plates and cups into the big black tub he’s carrying with them.

The people at the shelter think she’s adorable. They’re right. She let Niles braid her pretty, blonde hair down her back and she has on a short, red velvet dress and black tights. She’s precious. She spent part of her evening preparing soup with a plump woman back in the kitchen. She spent part of her evening with Niles, actually carrying out plates and bowls. (Niles winced when she tried to carry soup. After that he let her carry bread baskets.)

Eventually she makes her way to Niles, however, and she shifts shyly from one foot to the other in front of him until he pats his lap and she crawls into it. “Niles,” She says once she’s seated. She straightens out a wrinkle in her skirt and she plays with the end of her braid. “Owain says you do this every year on Christmas Eve, now.”

“We do.” Niles answers. He shifts to accommodate her in his lap better. Being a parent is still very new to him. He still slips up and curses more than he likes. He still makes lewd jokes without thinking. Nina has only been in their foster care for a little over a year. Hell, she’s still learning how to be someone’s child. Not necessarily theirs. She is only with them until she is adopted, or until she turns 18.

She tries her best. She still lashes out sometimes and she still threatens to run away sometimes but most of the time she behaves and when Niles lifts up the blanket he is sitting under on the sofa she will crawl closer to cuddle under it with him. When she has nightmares she sits in her bed and cries alone, but sometimes Niles hears her and she always lets him rub her back and check for monsters.

(He only pretended to find one once. She shrieked and when she realized he was joking she screeched that she hated him and didn’t speak to him for three days. Owain was on her side, too, so Niles was pretty villainized by the whole thing.)

She flops against him, he lets out a quiet ‘oof’ because she knocks the wind out of him with the force of her tiny, bony shoulder blades. He’s pretty sure she didn’t mean to hurt him. He’s been wrong before. She seems innocent, however, and she tilts her head back to look up at him—and he tilts his head down to look at her. They look stupid. He snickers and resumes watching Owain wipe down tables.

They’re about to leave—Owain just insisted on finishing up.

“Why?”

Niles sighs. “Why what, luv?”

“Gross.” She says. “Why do you spend Christmas Eve here every year?”

“We want to help people.” Niles says. He drums his fingertips on the table in front of them. “When I was a kid I lived on the streets for a few years. I was hungry. So are these people. We want to help give them food and people to celebrate with.”

Nina knows what hunger is. She was underfed when Niles found her, had been living on stolen chips from a gas station at the end of the street. She bites her lip and she drops the braid against her shoulder. “You wouldn’t rather do something romantic for your anniversary?”

How old is she? She’s five. She shouldn’t really know the word romantic. She reads at an advanced level, though, and he wonders what she’s been getting her hands on. Niles does smile just slightly, though, wraps his arms tight around her and squishes his cheek on the top of her head. “How sweet. Are you worried about us? You’re such a good kid.”

“Let go!” She squirms until he does, but she doesn’t slide out of his lap. Just huffs with as much air behind it as possible, so much that her whole frame shifts. “I’m not worried. I just don’t get it. You have a house and a family why do you care about them?”

“Nina. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. We are all people.” Niles shifts until he can force Nina to sit on the tabletop in front of him, so that he can look into her baby blue eyes and say this clearly. This is important. “Always see the good in people.”

_ Don’t be like me. _

Nina frowns at him, a deep frown too big for her face and she still hasn’t grown into it but it’s cute in its own way. She leans forward and raises her arms and it’s only then that Niles understands the cue: she wants to be held? He opens his arms for her, almost curiously. She’s always so adamant about her personal space, but she falls forward into his arms and lays her cheek on his shoulder.

“Niles?” She asks in a quiet voice, after a moment or twenty of silence. He rubs slow circles into her back through her dress. It is past her bedtime—he almost thinks she dozed off, until she speaks up.

“Yes, luv?”

But she doesn’t even complain when he calls her that, just clutches some of his shirt in her hands, behind his back. “Thank you for saving me. I promise to be good.”

“Hm, Nina.” Niles feels calm. Maybe he’s tired too? Owain has disappeared from his line of sight, no doubt to fetch their coats. He squeezes Nina a little tighter. “I’ll still like you even when you’re bad, you know.”

“I know.” She says, and Niles hesitates. Does she know? She always acts like she’s afraid of them, like she thinks they’re going to change their minds and leave her behind any minute. He hears footsteps and glances up to see Owain walking closer, with their coats draped over his arm and his already wrapped around himself. “I love you, Niles.”

Niles looks away from Owain for a moment, instead looks down at the little girl who has her arms wrapped up snug around his shoulders. Then he looks back at Owain, who looks both stunned but also… happy. He smiles something dorky and Niles smiles too, and his heart stops racing long enough for him to realize that she said it. She means it.

“I love you too, Nina.” He says for the very first time.


	7. I'll Be Home For Christmas

_ I’ll Be Home for Christmas _

_ I'll be home for Christmas _

_ You can count on me _

_ Please have snow and mistletoe _

_ And presents under the tree _

Owain wakes him up at about two in the morning a couple of nights before Christmas Eve on accident. He gets up slow, the bed creaks, but then he doesn’t  _ move _ slow. He runs to the bathroom and throws up.  _ Great _ , Niles thinks,  _ Why is this family always sick over Christmas? _

Owain doesn’t come back to bed right away and Niles falls asleep before he thinks to go check on him. He’s a big boy, he can handle vomiting on his own. Around five in the morning Owain wakes him again, this time clutching at his side and leaning heavily on the headboard. “N-Niles?” he asks, while Niles tries to keep his bleary eyes open. “Niles drive me to the hospital.”

Amazing how quickly words like that can sober a man. Niles didn’t feel the twisting in his gut while he slept but now he is awake and Owain is visibly in pain and Niles is worried. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know I just—it hurts.” He leans forward, falls forward, and Niles catches him and pulls him into the bed. Owain moans in a way that isn’t pleasant; he moans in pain. Niles’s heart breaks a little. “G-get up. Inigo is on his way over to watch—ah, please get dressed.”

Inigo is on his way. Even if there was a shred of doubt left in Niles’s mind that Owain is serious, it would have been dissolved by that. If Owain saw fit to wake Inigo up  _ early _ , there is no doubt that he is desperate.

When they get to the hospital Owain is in sweats and a t-shirt. One might think Niles should be an expert at dressing other people by now, with two children, but it is remarkably hard to help Owain into his clothes when he is  _ writhing _ . Niles is barely dressed. He pulled on yesterday’s jeans and a sweater, but Inigo arrived before he could comb his hair so he ended up tying it back with one of Nina’s glittery, purple ponytail holders.

Owain’s appendix is ruptured. He’s really hurt, and the doctors are taking him back for surgery. Or at least, they’re trying to. Owain is nervous about the anesthesia. “Maybe I can just live with the pain.” He says, and Niles rolls his eyes.

“Don’t be an idiot. It’s just a little needle, you’ll be alright.” He says. He kisses Owain’s head. “I’ll see you when you get out, alright?”

Owain nods and that is it. That’s their last words to each other. It’s not supposed to be a long procedure by any means. Niles hangs out in the waiting room on his phone for a few hours, and Owain… well he hangs out in surgery. But then it feels like it’s been too long. Tumblr is only fun for a while before it gets repetitive. Niles is only distracted for a while before he starts to worry.

The nurse who comes out doesn’t have a smile on her face. “What’s going on?” He asks, instead of ‘how is he’. Something isn’t right. He can tell, they don’t have to dance around it. She folds her hands in front of herself and she nods her head.

“We’re just having some trouble pulling him out of the anesthesia. The procedure went just fine. Once he’s awake we’ll send him home.”

“How much trouble?” He asks.

“Come back with me, to talk with the doctor.”

It isn’t fair. Owain has no real health concerns that would make him sensitive to this medicine and yet there he is, lying on a recovery bed looking to be in perfect health… except for the fact that he won’t wake up.

It’s an adverse reaction. It happens sometimes. There’s a good chance he’ll be fine. There’s a fair chance he won’t. Niles doesn’t… like thinking about the chance that he won’t.

Owain told him he was afraid. He told him he didn’t want to do it and honestly Niles didn’t listen. He called him an idiot or stupid or something and he said he would see him later. Why didn’t he listen? There are other forms of anesthetics. They could easily have let him stay awake, numbed the area. Why did Niles call him an idiot, instead of standing up for him? Why didn’t he do what he could to make his husband feel secure?

Who is the idiot now?

Inigo has called twice. Once shortly after Niles told him the news and once around six in the evening. He’s worried. He said that their kids are fine, but asked if he can take them back to his house. Nina is only a couple of years older than Soleil, they can play together. It might keep her from asking questions about Owain.

Niles honestly couldn’t care less where they are, as long as Inigo keeps them safe. He’s sort of distracted by other things right now, by the risk that his husband may never wake up.

_ “But what did they say? Is he on life support or something?” _

“He’s breathing on his own, there’s nothing wrong with his body.”

_ “Is something wrong with his head? Well, outside of the norm, I suppose.” _

“No. Well—maybe. It’s just a reaction to the medicine he… He’s fine, okay? He’s fine.”

_ “Niles? Are you alright? Maybe Leo can come up there..?” _

 

“I’m fine! And he’s fine.”

He hung up on Inigo after that, and it didn’t really help him to feel any better. He spent a lot of his day in that room. The doctors are in and out, checking his vitals. The anesthesiologist pops in a few times to try and bring him out of it with a new round of drugs. Nothing really works. The doctors seem more and more worried as the day goes on.

What if Owain dies like this? Besides the guilt for the rest of his godforsaken life that Niles will have willingly sent his own soulmate to his death, Niles isn’t ready to be a parent on his own. Nina is young, Ophelia is a baby. Parenting is hard enough when there are two adults versus two monsters. How could he be expected to go it alone?

Brady calls at some point and talks into Niles’s ear for a while about things that don’t matter. Reassurances that Owain will be fine. Strangely strong and clear, Brady tells him that he’s okay. Owain is okay. Maybe he is cut out to be a doctor after all?

Leo shows up an hour after Niles hangs up on Inigo. It sort of helps. It’s nice to have his best friend there, but… watching Leo watch Owain is scary, too. The room is too quiet. It would be nice if Owain was awake to strike up a conversation about D&D or something.

Inigo calls a third time at ten. He says that Nina started asking questions, but that she fell asleep after Soleil exhausted her. He asks about Owain again.

The doctors seem truly bothered.

Then he wakes up. The anesthesiologist tries one more time and for whatever reason this time it works. If the medicine has just worn off or if it is a miracle, Niles doesn’t know. All he knows is that the doctor asks him to stand there and hold Owain’s hand and not let him fall over while he draws some blood and that this time when Niles takes his hand, Owain’s fingers curl around his.

He’s drowsy but not necessarily loopy. Tired but most of the medicine is gone, long out of his system. Leo stands off in the corner talking about what happened with the doctor. Niles pulls Owain’s hand to his lips and kisses his knuckles… He’s okay. He’s awake! He’s alright. He’s…

He reaches out and places his hand on Niles’s cheek. “Why’rya cryin’?” He tries, a slur of words but then it makes Niles aware that he’s crying again, for the millionth time that day.

Niles closes his eyes and smiles while a tear slides down his cheek. “Do you really want to know?” He asks in a raspy whisper. Owain scrunches his brows together and nods his head. He blinks slow, and for the millisecond his eyes are shut Niles worries they’ll never reopen, that he’ll never get to look into those dark, mossy eyes again. “Are you  _ sure _ ?”

Owain nods once more, and Niles nods his head. He glances over his shoulder at Leo. He’s on the phone. Probably with Xander or Inigo. Niles leans in close to Owain until their noses almost touch, and in a very hushed voice he says “My heart aches with the light of a thousand stars… but they would all go dark if I had to endure even a single day without you by my side.”

And he wouldn’t be caught dead talking like this, on a normal day. He wouldn’t humor Owain and do this, he certainly wouldn’t do so when Leo was within earshot, but… “Thank you for coming back to me. You’re a real hero, Owain Dark.”

Owain blushes, and Niles isn’t sure what that means. But he tugs gently with his fingertips and Niles  _ is _ sure what that means. He leans down close and kisses his mouth and Owain hugs him after that, keeps hugging him until Niles surrenders and crawls onto the bed with him, lays down with Owain’s head tucked against his shoulder. Eventually he turns his lips close to Niles’s ears and he says “Mm’not going anywhere.” 


	8. I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus

_I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus_

_He didn't see me creep_

_Down the stairs to have a peep_

_He thought that I was tucked up_

_In my bedroom, fast asleep_

“Mm, you look like an idiot.” Niles purrs into Owain’s ear. It is late, on Christmas Eve. Niles should have been angry, by all means. Owain is leaving him alone the night before Christmas with a 2 month old baby and _Nina_ who is impossible tonight. She’s six and she won’t stay in bed if Niles begs her. He’s put her down to sleep at least four times tonight. It has been a while since she got up, however… and so perhaps she finally took heed to his warning. (“Nina, please, for the love of God. Santa only comes when you are _asleep_.”)

It is the night of their anniversary and they should be having sex. Specifically, Niles _wants_ to have sex, but Owain can’t put aside this obligation. And hey, for what little bit it’s worth Niles knows he has to go. He’s not mad. He should be, but he’s not.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his idiot of a husband got looped into dressing up like Santa? Niles hums and presses himself against Owain’s chest. “Too skinny. Don’t you need a pillow or something?”

“How would I drive?” Owain laughs, and he asks, “Do I look good with a beard?”

“You look so bad it’s pitiful.” Niles answers. Brutally honest, but Owain isn’t offended. If anything he laughs, but Niles pushes the stupid fake beard out of the way so that he can kiss him.

It’s hard. The beard is stupid and made of what feels like the same fake fur they used on the tail of Nina’s unicorn doll. It’s so fake and it tickles his nose and it’s stupid. Owain _doesn’t_ look horrible with facial hair. In their lives there have been many times when Niles has brushed his thumbs across the square of his jaw and mused about his day old stubble and how he might look if he grew it out a bit further.

This is a bit extreme.

Owain grabs him by the waist and draws him in closer. Niles tries to deepen their kiss but somehow manages to catch one of the furry hairs in his mouth. He almost has the willpower not to spit it out, but… Well something else kind of bad happens too.

Nina shrieks.

They fly apart. Faster than ever, faster than any time they’ve been caught kissing someplace unconventional. Owain glances at her and then at Niles and he says “Gotta go!” and leaves. Just leaves!

Maybe Niles _is_ mad? How does he talk himself out of this one? Nina is still at the end of the hall, and Niles thinks he’s going to have a calm conversation with her, but…

“How _could_ you?!” She shouts.

He crouches to her level and puts a finger over his lips. “Shh, Nina, your sister is sleeping.”

“But you..! What about _Owain_ !? How could you kiss—Why would you even want to cheat on him with _Santa Claus!”_

Oh, she’s so cute. Niles’s grin works up around the corner of his mouth. “I was not cheating on Owain.” He says as sternly as he can without laughing at her. She doesn’t seem to buy into it.

“He would _never_ kiss someone else without telling you.” Nina argues. She crosses her arms around herself and she taps her foot and gods above Niles thinks he’s going to lose it and start cracking up. He’s not cut out to be a parent. He’s not made for this. He’s made for tormenting people.

“There…” He tries to speak, but what is he supposed to say? If he says that was Owain he’s going to ruin her fragile image of Santa. She’s a kid. She still deserves to believe in magic. “…was a mistletoe.”

“What?”

“Santa was standing under the mistletoe.” He stands, and when he does he picks her up in his arms with him. She squirms. She’s getting too big to carry like this. “No one cheated. Now go back to bed.”

“But..! That was a _big_ kiss.”

“It was a big mistletoe.”

“Does that make a difference?” She asks. He lays her down in her bed and pulls the covers over her. She sits up, refusing to lay down just yet, apparently.

“Nina,” Niles says, and he sits down on her bed with her. “Of course it makes a difference. It’s very traditional mistletoe lore. Don’t you think Owain would have _wanted_ me to be true to such a ‘legendary’ tradition?”

Oh, she frowns. He’s winning. He grins. “I guess so…”

“Good then. Now go back to sleep, luv.”

Nina lays down and Niles walks back towards her door. He sucks in a breath when she says “Wait!”

Such an innocent little girl who is keeping him from sleeping, tonight. He looks over his shoulder at her with what he hopes is a warm smile and not an annoyed scowl. He loves Nina very much, after all. “Yes?”

“If Santa already _came_ , then why do I have to sleep?”

Ah. That is a good question. Niles has no idea what the answer is. Is there some kind of magical, good parenting secret? He clears his throat. “Because I said so.” He decides, and he closes her door behind him. He leans against it with a sigh and he listens to her lay down and turn over. Thank goodness. He slips his phone out of his pocket and he has a text from his husband.


	9. All I Want For Christmas Is You

_ All I Want for Christmas is You _

_ I don't want a lot for Christmas _

_ There's just one thing I need _

_ I don't care about those presents _

_ Underneath the Christmas tree _

_ I just want you for my own _

_ More than you could ever know _

_ Make my wish come true _

_ You know that all I want for Christmas is you _

She’s not feeling well. At least, that’s what Niles assumes. She has a bad habit of being sick over holidays. Since she was a little girl she always seemed to stall until it was time to get in the car and drive to Ylisse before she puked everywhere.

Of course she’s thirteen now, so it seems really impossible for her to throw up and ruin Christmas. She’s old enough to feel it coming and run to the bathroom. Niles isn’t really worried about that. He’s just… concerned? She’s shifty and she isn’t eating and if she gets sick they’ll  _ all _ get sick.

“She’s fine.” Owain says to him. He waves off Niles’s concerns like it’s not even a real issue. He pushes Niles into the family room.

Owain’s parents’ house is not nearly the size of Leo’s family’s but it is pretty big. It has two floors and a pretty grand living room where the tree is tall and fat and lit up bright. The stairs have garlands wrapped around the banisters and big ornaments. They always overdo it for Christmas time.

Everyone feels a little bit more tense today. Niles isn’t sure why. He really doesn’t get it. Ophelia is her normal self but she’s only seven and hey, it’s Christmas. Nina is acting sick but when he asks her if she’s alright she shrieks that she’s fine and pushes him away and… well that’s pretty standard for her. Owain keeps waving Niles off when he suggests something is amiss and Brady is spending more time than usual with Owain. He seems worried. At least once he’s seen Owain laugh at him and offer to find him some tissues if he cries.

Brady cries over everything, so really that does nothing to help Niles figure out what’s happening.

No… it’s not until they are seated in the living room opening presents, until he is on the couch and reaches for a particular bag that he realizes whatever this weird thing is, whatever has everyone acting so strange is… in this bag. Everyone’s eyes snap towards him. Nina looks like she’s going to throw up.

“Are you alright, luv?” He asks her. She’s been seated near his legs on the floor this whole time, that’s where she opened her gifts (and where she was so excited to get fountain pens and a journal to help her to learn script) and it’s where she scoffs.

“I’m fine, okay? Stop asking me!”

She’s thirteen and she’s getting to be something of a menace. Hormones, he would blame that. She’s growing into a woman this year and while it has been a horrible and amusing journey to learn what sort of products and advice works for that… it also has made her more distant. She doesn’t sit in their laps anymore, didn’t go trick or treating that year. She’s growing up.

And she’s got an attitude twice the size that Niles’s ever was.

“Hun?” Owain asks, and Niles glances up at Owain, at his soft voice and reassuring smile. “What’s the hold up? Don’t you want to see what mysteries await you?”

Well the hold up is that something is  _ wrong _ . Everyone is in on something that he’s  _ not _ . Everyone is strange today and they’re acting like it’s just no big deal. So he shrugs and puts his hand through his hair and then pulls the tissue paper out of the bag.

There’s a bundle in it, flat and shaped sort of like a journal might be, and it’s wrapped up in paper. Which sort of eliminates the need for a bag. Right? Niles sighs and turns it over to open it from the seams, to undo the tape and to peel back the paper. A yellow envelope. He sighs. “If this is a game where we wrap something small in eight layers of paper…”

“Can you shut up and open it?” Nina snaps. Niles raises his brow at her. She shrinks back and frowns. “Sorry, whatever.”

He rolls his eyes but redirects his attention to the envelope. He’s fully expecting it to have another wrapped thing inside of it, but it doesn’t. It actually has something else entirely inside: paperwork. A thick bundle of paperwork, clipped together with a binder clip and when he slides it out to look at it…

Well he stares at it. He reads it twice, the bolded words of the local courthouse, the case number, the names written in the blanks in Owain’s precise script… But most importantly the words just above that, centered and underlined.  **_PETITION FOR ADOPTION OF A MINOR_ **

And he is silent. He flips through the pages loosely. Everything is in order. Nina’s signatures, Owain’s signatures, all that is missing are his own. Everyone is silent. Ophelia shifts from her spot across the room, whispers something to Owain. “Why is Dad crying?”

Crying? He doesn’t even notice it until she says it, until a drop falls into the ink of the paper and he quickly sets it aside to scrub at his face with his sleeve. But it doesn’t stop—he can’t make the tears stop and then he makes a noise that he hates himself for. A  _ sob _ .

 

She’s thirteen and she’s the worst. They fight every day and she tells him she hates him and she screeches when they enter her room without warning or permission. She’s more interested in boys than homework and she refused to go to school for an entire week once over a pimple in the center of her forehead.

But he’s held her for nine years. He’s carried her with her head on his shoulder while she sleeps and he’s held her down to get shots and he’s cleaned up her vomit and he’s watched her dance and laugh and play and grow up and for  _ nine years  _ she has been a child in his foster care.

He’s only allowed to keep her until she’s adopted, or until she turns 18. In all their arguments, all their fights, it’s always weighed somewhere on him that he’s not her father, he can’t tell her what to do. From the first time she said it as a little girl in the back seat of his car, he never really forgot.

“I…”  _ I love you so much _ , but he can’t find words. None of them! Where did they run off to? So he does the next thing he can think of and slides off the couch onto the floor with her, and he pulls her into a hug and she squirms for a second but… then she grips his shirt and tucks her face against his shoulder.

She’s a strong girl, a good girl, and she lets him cry into her fluffy blonde hair and she starts to cry too. He’s so sorry she’s crying, so sorry that it rubbed off on her. He didn’t mean to. He holds her too tight and then he pushes her back and he thumbs away tears from her eyes. They stick to her lashes though, and she smiles at him. “I love you, Dad.” She smiles.

Brady hiccups and Maribelle hisses at him to hush.

Oh, that was why he needed the tissues. That was why everything. This is why everything. He sucks in an unsteady breath and pretends he’s not embarrassed about the tears sliding down his cheeks. “I love you too, Nina.” He says, and he pulls her back close to him.

She’s his daughter. Or, she’s going to be. Legally his, legally theirs to love and raise and humiliate at school functions and just… he’s so lucky, and so happy, and crying like a baby, too.

Nothing was ever going to top this Christmas gift.


	10. Blue Christmas

**Blue Christmas**

_ I'll have a blue Christmas without you _

_ I'll be so blue just thinking about you _

_ Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree _

_ Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me _

 

Ophelia spends the better part of the evening talking Niles’s ear off about how amazing her gift for Soleil is. She’s so excited to give it to her, she said it only a hundred times, and Niles  _ loves _ his daughter and he certainly loves her enthusiasm over the littlest of things (in fact it reminds him a lot of his dork when they met) but he is admittedly relieved when she yawns and decides to kiss his cheek and go to bed. That was a couple of hours earlier. That was when Owain was sitting on the floor in front of their television, sorting the DVDs into alphabetical order by genre.

 

He had stopped when Ophelia knelt to kiss his cheek too, and he caught her off guard by trapping her in a hug that was at least 20 seconds longer than a teenager would be comfortable with. Niles could remember watching it and feeling a tiny knot form in his stomach. Guilt?

 

Here he is two hours later and the stupid knot in his stomach has turned into this giant, twisted mess. It’s just after midnight and their apartment should have been silent, save maybe the sounds of Niles and Owain making some “Christmas music” between the sheets. Instead he can hear Owain in the kitchen. The water is running and he hears the clanking of plates while his husband washes the few dirty dishes he can find.

 

Owain is generally pretty neat. He was a tidy roommate in college when they met and that didn’t change. He never grew out of keeping a clean house. They did, however, eventually outgrow piling their junk by the front door. He doesn’t clean compulsively all the time. Owain, that is. He doesn’t always clean like this, only when he is distracting himself.

 

Something shatters and it prompts Niles to wince. While Owain was distracting himself with cleaning Niles was distracting himself with a phone game, but he decides to check on Owain when he hears that. It isn’t really Owain’s fault he dropped it. He is a mess that day. He has been a mess for days, but prior to this moment he has done a better job of hiding it.

 

Today all of his emotions surfaced and a plate has to suffer for them, apparently. Niles frowns from the doorway. “Those aren’t meant to be dropped,” he says with a tone that screams loud and clear that he is joking. He’s joking. He’s not really bothered by the broken plate, he’s more bothered by the fact that Owain is surrounded by shards and splinters and he is wearing only a pair of socks with cats wearing Santa hats on his feet. “Don’t move.”

 

He takes a few steps and makes a grab for the broom and he uses it to sweep the glass away from Owain’s feet. When it is safe to move Owain takes a step back towards the sink and he shuts off the faucet. He’s too quiet. It’s gross and Niles knows he’s bothered. It’s too obvious he’s bothered. Even if they weren’t soulmates, even if Owain’s stress wasn’t making the knot of his stomach twist tighter and tighter with every passing moment, it’s obvious. “When exactly are you planning to talk about this?”

 

It is getting out of hand. It isn’t like it has anything to do with Niles or Ophelia either. The two of them are forced to watch Owain act like this when they are innocent. The real culprit behind Owain’s blatant distress is  _ Nina _ . She’s not even here to witness it.

 

Therein lies the problem, of course.

 

Nina left for college that year and when she did she disappeared permanently. It feels like it, at least. Niles knows that she doesn’t want to hurt them and that she certainly doesn’t want to hurt  _ Owain _ , who has always blatantly been her favorite, but she hasn’t come back to visit them since she left in august. Gone! Niles isn’t even sure how it happened. She was only a bratty four year old with a cussing problem yesterday, he’s sure. Somehow she grew up in the blink of an eye into a 19 year old who still has something of a cussing problem. She went to a distant university, hours and hours away where they can’t reach her to drag her home now and then.

 

It was an adjustment for all of them to get used to the hole in their lives, but they managed. Ophelia misses her sister the most obviously. The earliest days after Nina left Ophelia would rush home from school with a grin and a great tall tale to tell her and then she would realize Nina wasn’t home to get excited with her. Since then Ophelia has learned to rely on Soleil to practice her lines with her for plays, but she told Niles once that no one is as much fun to recite lines with as Nina. She squeals over the romantic parts, apparently.

 

Niles misses her because she is his daughter. He loves her, he wants to see her safe and happy. He knows that she is, there. She is learning how to be her own woman. He just wishes that she would say hi more often than she does.

 

Owain misses her too. Like a lot—a whole lot. Niles isn’t blind to it by any means. When they used to sit around in the living room Nina was always the one who would lean herself against Owain’s arm all wrapped up in a blanket and looking at her phone. She would check every few seconds to make sure he wasn’t looking at the screen and then she would screech at him when he was. ( _ “It’s just fanfiction okay? Stop looking!”) _

 

Owain misses her because Nina and Owain are two parts of the same weird, dorky whole that gets overly excited about things and that make up stories and  _ gods above _ Owain does not and never has done anything to stop her from writing stories about people she actually knows. ( _ “I will not hinder her creativity!”) _

 

Anyway, the obvious issue is that she hasn’t come home yet. Not for a single damn weekend in the entire first semester of school. She’s in too many homework heavy classes and the workload is too much and she claims that she can’t come home because she’ll fail her classes. Owain and Niles both have offered to fly her back home for a weekend at least twenty times but she always claims that it’s too expensive and she’s busy anyway.

 

…And then she decides not to come home over Christmas break like she isn’t literally killing them. Ophelia is disappointed. She spent weeks planning to steal away her sister for a day of people watching and shopping and drinking cocoa on the town. Niles is disappointed but he is good at hiding it. Owain isn’t really good at that.

 

He’s never good at it. He’s got this smile that makes Niles’s heart do backflips and that makes the darkest rooms light up with his grin but he can’t fake it. He’s shit at faking it. Niles knows, he’s seen it a time or two. Owain wants his daughter to come home so they can make her favorite foods and play that board game she loves that takes hours and hours and Nina is torturing him by staying away, even if she doesn’t know it.  He has hours and hours of conversation to catch up with her on and texting just isn’t the same.

 

Owain is having more trouble with his ‘nightingale’ leaving the nest than he wants to admit and the fact that she isn’t interested in coming home to visit has makes it substantially worse. Niles sighs and replaces the broom and dustpan where they go. When he looks back Owain is just sort of standing there, leaning on the sink and maybe crying? Probably crying, which isn’t like him. Owain is a big fat happy crier. He doesn’t cry often otherwise.

 

Niles swoops closer, slow steps that are quiet because he’s always been light on his feet but when he reaches Owain he curls his arms into a warm knot around his husband’s waist. He hooks his chin over Owain’s shoulder and he breathes in the way he smells like the cookies he and Ophelia baked that morning. “I’m listening right now, you know.”

 

Owain deflates with a huff and it’s sweet the way that he overlaps his arms with Niles’s. He brushes his thumb over the dull line of zeroes that run across Niles’s wrist and he asks, “Why doesn’t she want to come home?” It sounds like there’s some venom in his voice but then his shoulders get soft and he lets out the rest of his sigh properly. “I miss her. I don’t want to mail her gifts. She’s supposed to be here.”

 

“I know,” Niles hums low and with his lips against the skin beneath Owain’s ear. He feels the same way. Nina should be here, she really should, but what are they supposed to do about it? They can’t force her to come back, really. He takes a step back and he pulls Owain with him, until Niles is seated upon a countertop and Owain is dragged, whether he likes it or not, to stand between his knees. “Summer will be here before you know it. Where’s my favorite dorky smile? You’ve been frowning for too long. You’ll wrinkle.”

 

The smile that Owain tries to fake for Niles is endearing if not pathetic. It isn’t executed well and Niles sighs just before he leans down to catch his lips in a kiss. “You need to relax, pet.”

 

Owain laughs against Niles’s lips but it isn’t that happy smile that he’s grown so fond of over the years. It’s something exasperated, something defeated. Owain leans back a bit and Niles rolls his eyes. He’s wasting his efforts. He knows he is—he can’t make his husband feel better about this. Still, he tries, because the only thing more pathetic than a kicked puppy is this mess Owain has become.

 

“How can I? I can’t stop thinking about it! Tomorrow is Christmas! She’s never missed one before. She’s been spending Christmas with us for what—how old is she, 19?—that’s fifteen Christmases! This is the fifteenth—that practically makes it a special occasion.”

 

“Owain,” Niles says, and he is predictably ignored.

 

“Why would she miss this? Did I do something wrong—what if she just decided I was annoying?”

 

“You are annoying.” Niles reaches out with his hands on either side of Owain’s face and he smooshes his cheeks together. “Shh. She said she has too much schoolwork. She doesn’t think you’re annoying. The girl is nuts—she thinks you’re some kind of genius. Always has.”

 

“But—“ Owain’s protest is cut short with a slow, open kiss. Niles has to pull him forward by his face but he doesn’t mind. His spot on the counter is comfortable anyway. The protest dies as a sigh into Niles’s mouth and when they part he doesn’t try again. He just tries to apologize. “Sorry,” he says, but neither of them have the faintest clue why. Niles doesn’t at least.

 

“Hush. You’ve been too mopey, I need my dork back.” Owain must have caved because he leans back into their kiss and he loops his arms around Niles by his waist. His earlier sigh melts into a delighted little hum when Niles slips his tongue past his lips. Niles is going to call this a success. If anyone needs to be kissed until they forget their worries, it is Owain, right then.

 

He will have plenty of time to mope tomorrow, anyway.

 

The thing about Owain is that he spends way too much of his time being this beautiful, obnoxious ball of love and comfort and maybe Niles is selfish because he has always welcomed it with open arms but… Owain needs his turn to be unhappy too. He needs hugs and kisses to chase away the bad days. It didn’t take twenty years of marriage to figure that out, either. Niles knew from their very first kiss that Owain was electric and raw and spontaneous. People like that didn’t break down often, but they did break down the worst.

 

His tongue tastes like vanilla and sugar, like the cookies that they’re meant to be saving for Santa. Not that either of their children are naïve enough to believe anymore. Owain tastes sweet and warm and maybe sort of desperate for the relief that came with kissing away his stress. He almost slumps against Niles—until the sound of someone clearing their throat startles him right out of Niles’s kiss.

 

“Ew, can you guys not do that there?”

 

_ Ah, so the nightingale came home after all. _ Relief sweeps through Niles like a breeze because she did it, she’s here. She made the right choice all on her own. He’s so glad to see her, his daughter looking so grown up. He’s also glad she changed her mind. She’s got a scarf up to her nose and snow coating her blonde hair white and a nose so pink she looks sick but she’s home, and so Niles says, “I thought you had taken quite an interest in looking at men kiss each other. I’ve seen the comics in your room.”

 

Nina doesn’t get much in the way of time to answer. Niles should have anticipated it sooner, he knows, and he barely has a chance to let go of Owain himself before he’s gone, wrapping Nina up in a hug so tight that, damn, Niles is almost jealous. Nina has to stand on her toes to wrap her arms around Owain’s shoulders and you know what? Niles is absolutely sure that she forwent a snippy comment about how gross it is to see her own  _ parents _ making out just so she can hug Owain and squeak out a little laugh. She says, “Hi Dad.”

 

“How did you get here?” Owain asks. He brushes snow off of her hair and he pushes her back to arm's length so that he can tuck some of her bangs behind her ear. “I thought you weren’t coming?” Niles slips down off of the countertop and he dips his head to the side while he waits for her answer.

 

She looks down with a bit of a blush. “Um, well, I used that emergency money you guys gave me to get a plane ticket. Not because I was lonely or anything. I just didn’t want to miss Gramma’s cookies.” Ah, what a sweet girl they raised. Niles chuckles and wraps her up tight in a hug from the side, one that pins her arms to her body, and he swoops in close to pepper her cheek in tiny kisses. Her laughter rings out loud, giggles that have a hint of a snort behind them while she tries to swat at his hands. “Gross! Don’t kiss my face, you were just kissing  _ him _ ! I’ll get cooties or something.”

 

How horrible would it be to have cooties from Owain? Probably awful. Ah—but wait. Niles was infected years and years ago, on the top bunk of a bed in a college dorm. His cooties feel like butterfly kisses and warm drinks on a cold day. Nina will survive them. “Go on then,” he says, “What really changed your mind?”

 

Nina sighs like she’s facing the end of the world by being held in his arms and Niles is almost offended but then she leans into his chest. She makes a noise that sounds an awful lot like a giggle too, when Owain joins in and wraps her up from the other side. “Stoooooooooop!” she whines, “Ah—you guys are so gross! Let me go! I’m going back to school—you both suck!”

 

“Say how much you love and missed us,” Niles coos, “I’ll make him let go.”

 

Nina scoffs in response. How dare Niles ask for something so simple as his own daughter’s affection? He smirks and only holds her tighter when she squirms, and with a defeated sigh she finally laughs something tiny against his chest. “Okay. Okay! I love you guys. Now let me go?”

 

“Hmm…. What do you think, luv?” Niles asks, and his eyes flash with mischief when they meet Owain’s. Owain who, with a grin, shakes his head left and right. “Ah, a shame. Sorry, Nina, you can’t leave yet.”

 

“But you said..!”

  
“Mhmm,” Niles hums. He squeezes her a little tighter. “I lied.” 


End file.
